By Mike Sannes, Big Bear Real Estate - The Mike Sannes Team, September 23, 2016
The long warm days of summer have recently transitioned into chilly (more like freezing) mornings here in Big Bear. But the Big Bear real estate market is not showing any signs of cooling off as we head into Fall. Thanks for checking in with us on the Big Bear real estate market. Let’s get caught up on what transpired in our unique resort market this summer, and look at what that indicates about what we can expect going forward.
Number of Homes Sold Down a Slight 3.1% ...
Through August of this year (as compared to the same time frame last year), the total number of residential properties that changed hands decreased slightly: Down 3.1% (720 closed Jan-Aug in 2016 vs. 743 in 2015). This is interesting, as demand o
verall (when looking at our ‘months of supply’ metric) has remained steady throughout most of this year. The chart to the right sheds some light on this. It shows that the number of closings under $250,000 has substantially decreased (down 17.6%); whereas, the number of closings between $250,000 - $500,000 has dramatically increased (up 18.7%).
Despite this, the total number of homes sold in the “under $250K” price range is still greater than in the “$250K - $500K range” (351 vs 298), which adversely effects the overall average (i.e. 49% of all homes sold through August were under that $250K mark, whereas only 41% of all those sold were in the $250-500K range).
...But Average Sales Price up 9.8%
In stark contrast to the slight decline in total number of sales, the average price of all the homes sold in January to August of this year posted an impressive 9.8% increase (Avg. price $303,413 in 2016 vs 276,348 for same period in 2015). The lion’s share o
f this price appreciation came in the months of June, July and August as the first quarter of this year was relatively flat when compared to last year. It is very encouraging (if you’re a fan of price appreciation) to see the average price of all homes sold in Big Bear above that $300,000 mark for 5 of the first 8 months of 2016. I will keep you posted on what develops in the all-important 4th Quarter of 2016 as the old cliché, “its not how you start, its how you finish,” certainly applies to the Big Bear real estate market. And as interest rates still remain at historically low levels (the Fed just voted again, to keep rates unchanged yesterday!) I expect to see a strong finish to an exciting year.
Although I typically refrain from bragging in my blog, I do want to thank all of you, from all of us:
- Mike Sannes–Lead Agent,
- Maureen Auer–Buyer Specialist,
- Tyler Williams–Buyer Specialist, and
- Cynthia Mossman–Transaction Coordinator.
You have helped make The Mike Sannes Team the #1 (Top Producing) team at Keller Williams Big Bear this year to date. We truly value and appreciate your business and your support, and look forward to helping you, or anyone you know, obtain a great result when buying or selling real estate here in Big Bear in the future.
ALSO – stay tuned for a new episode of “Log Cabin Living” on HGTV featuring us and Big Bear... This is slated to be episode #1 of the 3rd season set to air later this year – more to follow on this… Until next time, All the Best and Happy Hunting -- and as always, contact us anytime!